Marc Coppey

French cellist Marc Coppey, winner of the two highest prizes at the Bach competition Leipzig at the age of 18, first prize and special prize for the best interpretations of Bach, is considered to be one of the leading cellists of today. Sir Yehudi Menuhin discovered Marc’s talent at an early age and subsequently invited him to make his Moscow and Paris debuts performing together Tchaïkovsky Trio along with Victoria Postnikova, a collaboration documented on film by the acclaimed film director Bruno Monsaingeon. In 1989 Mstislav Rostropovitch invited Marc to the Evian Festival and from that moment on his solo career took off.

A frequent soloist with leading orchestras, Marc Coppey has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Alan Gilbert, Lionel Bringuier, Eliahu Inbal, Alain Altinoglu, Emmanuel Krivine, Yutaka Sado and Asher Fisch among others. Mr. Coppey has appeared on numerous occasions in Europe, North and South America and Asia and in some of the most prestigious concert halls such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, the Salle Pleyel, the Théâtre de la Ville, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Théâtre du Chatelet and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Liszt Conservatory Hall in Budapest, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, the Capella in Saint-Petersburg, the Casals Hall in Tokyo and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He is a regular guest of the festivals of Radio-France-Montpellier, Strasbourg, Besançon, La Roque d’Anthéron, Monte-Carlo “Printemps des Arts”, Nantes “Folles Journées”, Stuttgart, Midem, Kuhmo, Korsholm and Prades.

An avid chamber music player, Marc Coppey has explored and performed the cello repertoire with such renowned artists as Maria-Joao Pires, Stephen Kovacevich, Nicholas Angelich, Aleksandar Madzar, Michel Beroff, Peter Laul, François-Frédéric Guy, Augustin Dumay, Victoria Mullova, Tedi Papavrami, Ilya Gringolts, Laurent Korcia, David Grimal, Gérard Caussé, Janos Starker, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Michel Portal, Paul Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud and the Prazak and Talich Quartets. From 1995 to 2000 he was a member of the Ysaÿe Quartet, performing at the most prestigious international concert venues.

Marc Coppey’s choice of repertoire is eclectic and innovative. He frequently plays the complete Bach Suites and other well-known and loved concert repertoire, and also brings to the public’s attention works that are rarely heard. Performing and promoting contemporary music is very important to Marc Coppey and composers such as Christian Durieux, Fénelon, Jarrell, Krawczyk, Lenot, Marc Monnet, Pauset, Reverdy Tanguy, Auerbach and Bruno Mantovani have all dedicated works to him. He gave the world premieres of Lenot’s Cello Concerto, Tanguy’s 1st Cello Concerto as well as Marc Monnet’s Cello Concerto and the French and Spanish premiere of Elliott Carter’s Cello Concerto.

Marc Coppey’s recordings have received critical acclaim worldwide. They include works by Beethoven, Debussy, Emmanuel Fauré, Grieg and Strauss, produced by the labels Auvidis, Decca, Harmonia Mundi and K617. Among his first recordings are the concertante works by Théodore Dubois on the Mirare label. His release of the complete Bach Suites (awarded Télérama’s ffff) and a CD dedicated to Dohnanyi (featured in the “10 de Répertoire”), were both recorded for the Aeon/Harmonia Mundi label. Together with the Prazak Quartet, Marc Coppey recorded the Schubert Quintet for the Praga label. His discography also includes one of the great Russian cello sonatas, accompanied by pianist Peter Laul (on the Aeon label), a performance of Martin Matalon’s concerto (on Accord/ Universal), a CD of the Brahms Sonatas with pianist Peter Laul. His 2008 recording of the Dutilleux Cello Concerto and the Caplet Concertos with the Liège Orchestra under Pascal Rophé’s direction received a Diapason d’Or and a “Choc” from the Magazine Le Monde de la Musique. In November 2009, Marc Coppey was invited to play Bach in Paris on the Place de la Concorde marking the 20th anniversary since the Fall of the Wall in Berlin.

In addition to his solo concert career and his chamber music activities, Marc Coppey is a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and gives master-classes all over the world. Marc Coppey is the artistic director of the Colmar Chamber Music Festival as well as the Zagreb Soloists. He performs on a rare cello by Matteo Goffriller (Venice 1711) and resides in Paris.

Marc Coppey was born in Strasbourg, France. He studied cello at the conservatory of his home town and continued at the National Conservatory of Paris and at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana (USA).